Dr David Webber from the Politics department discusses Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan's intention to succeed Sepp Blatter as the head of football’s world governing body Fifa.

"Football will always remember Platini’s talents on the field," writes Dr David Webber, a specialist in the cultural political economy of football at the University of Warwick, “but as a central figure in Fifa’s malaise, he can have no future in the reform of the sport."

After his encore earlier this year as Fifa President, world football’s governing body announced today (20 July 2015) that Sepp Blatter will be standing aside on 26 February 2016. Commenting on developments in Zurich, Dr David Webber, an expert in the cultural political economy of football at the University of Warwick, remarked: “A political master until the last, the seven months that remain of Blatter’s reign mean that he will be able to continue to set the reform agenda and stage manage his exit. It also means that, privately at least, he will be able to exert some influence over the identity of his successor...

Dr David Webber, an expert in the cultural political economy of football at the University of Warwick, remains cautious over Sepp Blatter’s long-term intentions, and what his decision to step down means for Fifa and its proposed programme of reforms.

Unless the English game gets its own house in order, Sepp Blatter’s critics in the UK risk being accused of hollow populism, warns Dr David Webber from the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick.